


When Steve didn't use Google translate

by Tsuki_Amano



Series: 365 Stucky Shots [26]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Fluff, M/M, semi-serious look at what it feels like being an immigrant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-17
Updated: 2016-01-17
Packaged: 2018-05-14 12:56:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5744653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tsuki_Amano/pseuds/Tsuki_Amano
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All Steve wanted to do was say something nice to Bucky's mom. He failed.<br/>Miserably.</p><p>Or that story where Steve accidentally calls his boyfriend's mom a donkey because his brain can't remember the words in the right order.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When Steve didn't use Google translate

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a prompt from tumblr. For the record, I'm basing the Romanian heritage off of Seb Stan. The only things I know about Romania are from Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian so I apologize if I offend anyone.

It’s so quiet that Steve swears he can hear the quiet gurgling of the pudding as it bubbles away merrily on the stove. For a minute, no one says anything. He wonders if it’d be too late for him to move to a new country, he’d always wondered what India would be like at this time of year.

Bucky stares at him, a mix of confusion, mortification and amusement on his face. Mrs. Barnes, bless her, just looks at him with no small amount of mirth.

Steve’s not sure what he’s said, but he has no doubt it’s **_completely wrong_**.

It had started two weeks ago when Bucky had idly mentioned to him that his mother wanted to meet Steve. They’d been dating for almost a year now and were serious about each other. His mother wanted to see the young man who had stolen her son’s heart. The only thing was, he’d added self-consciously, his mother didn’t speak much English.

Bucky and his parents had moved to Boston from Romania when he was barely a toddler, changing their names and a large part of their lifestyle to assimilate into the new country better. While Mr. Barnes and the children (with Bucky’s sisters being born later) had managed to adapt quite well, Mrs. Barnes had remained rooted to her old culture and traditions.

It went without saying that Bucky was fiercely protective of his mother. He’d go out with her whenever she wanted, and had given Billy Joel a black eye in primary school for saying horrible things about her. It wasn’t her fault that she didn’t speak English. Besides, he’d say to Steve, angrily whispering so the rest of his family couldn’t hear him, she spoke fluent Romanian and when she did, it sounded much more beautiful and lyrical than anything else.

And that’s how Steve met Bucky, all those years ago in middle school. He’d seen Bucky standing up to the class clown, who had decided to make a joke of Bucky’s persistent accent and had dived in. Never mind that he was a full head shorter than all the other boys in his class and that they’d both ended up with detentions for their troubles. That moment had firmly cemented Steve Rogers’ and Bucky Barnes’ friendship.

It took a while for Bucky to truly open up around Steve. For him to shed his cocky persona and to explain in accented English about the delicious dinner his mother had made or about the countryside where his aunts and uncles still lived. It was only a year later that he let Steve try his mother’s cooking, terrified that Steve wouldn’t like the foreign tastes and spices, which Bucky associated with home.

Steve on the other hand soaked up everything like a sponge.  He adored when Bucky told him anecdotes about his home life and hung on to every word his friend offered.

Bucky went home to Steve’s a lot, sometimes to stay the night, others to work on assignments and projects. But all through out, Bucky never invited Steve over. Steve had once asked his mother about that, and she’d explained in that soft way of hers, that he’d do it when he was good and ready.

Sarah had more or less accepted Bucky as her second son and he was over several times a week. In all this time, Steve had never met another member of the Barnes family.

Then one day, his mother fell ill. She’d been working so hard in the hospital to make sure everyone else was alright, she never realised that she might fall ill as well. The illness sweeps through her, too quick for anyone to do anything and before they know it, the doctors have admitted her to a hospice. Bucky shifts in with Steve, making sure he eats and looks after him. When the time comes, he helps with the funeral arrangements and makes sure Steve carries on living.

One day, about a week later, Bucky walked in with a small, neatly wrapped parcel in his hand. Steve can barely make it out, but his name is written on, in shaky handwriting.

“Uh, my mom, she sent this for you.” Bucky says unsurely. Inside is a small cake and some homemade stew. Because everything tastes different when it’s made by a mother.

They finally start dating when they’re in their second year of college. Bucky tells his mother, who, he reports to Steve, had shaken her head fondly and told him he was an idiot for waiting that long. But now she wanted to meet him, even if she wouldn’t be able to talk to him very well.

“What if I talked to her?” Steve asks excitedly, “I mean, what if you teach me a little Romanian?”

Bucky looks unsure, because Steve is terrible at languages and Romanian’s tough to speak.

“Just a bit, enough to at least greet her. She’s your mom Bucky, I want to be able to at least thank her.”

Sighing softly, Bucky says, “ _You’re so stubborn_. Fine, I’ll teach you a few words and phrases.”

It’s as much of a train wreck as you’d imagine. First, Bucky’s not the best teacher in the world. He’s slightly impatient and finds it difficult to link the words together so that Steve can grasp it quickly.

Then comes the problem where Steve’s absolutely dreadful at pronunciations. He tries to imitate something the way Bucky had said it, but it sounds warped and garbled and leaves the pair in splits of laughter.

In retrospect, Steve should have known this would be a bad idea, he really should have. He should have stuck to the basics. But he really wanted to compliment Mrs. Barnes’ cooking, because honestly, this was a fantastic meal and he was stuffed. So he’d wracked his brains for the correct phrase and had gone for it.

Judging by the looks on everyone else’s faces, he’d got it absolutely wrong.

Surprisingly, Mrs. Barnes is the first to recover. She smiles, with that same soft smile he often sees on Bucky and pats Steve’s cheek. She says something to Bucky and laughs before going into the dining room.

When she’s left, Steve bangs his forehead against the wall. “What did I say?” he groans miserably.

Bucky puts his hand on Steve’s shoulders and pulls him away from the wall, gently pressing a kiss to his forehead. “You might not want to know the answer to that.”

Steve buries his head into Bucky’s neck. “I just wanted to say that I thought your mom’s cooking was great.”

Bucky snorts, and tries to choke it down but dissolves in a fit of laughter, “Pal, that’s not even close to what you said. You might have sort of called my mom a donkey.”

Steve freezes and says, “What? _Oh shit_ , Bucky how does your mom not hate me?”

Mrs. Barnes walks in at that moment and pats Steve’s head again, before rapidly saying something to Bucky and lightly slapping the side of his head.

“My mother is very taken with you,” he says drily. “In fact, she said that next time you want to learn our language, to come to her instead of asking me.”

Steve smiles at her and shyly apologizes, trying his best not to trip over the syllables. Mrs. Barnes smiles at him again before pressing a serving plate with dessert into his hands and shooing him towards the dining room with a spoon, leaving her and Bucky in the kitchen.

The pair re-join him later and Bucky whispers into his ear, “She told me that she thinks you’re adorable and if we were back home, she’d be giving you a charm to ward off the evil eye. But she also says thank you for trying to learn our language and that no matter what, you’re always welcome. Because you’re family now and family is always welcome here.”

* * *

Come say hi! I'm on [tumblr](http://everydayindian.tumblr.com/)

 

**Author's Note:**

> Has anyone ever tried to learn a new language and screwed up? *Raises hand*  
> When I was learning french, I mixed up my verbs and called someone a dog by accident.


End file.
